With the entire Crimson team bunched together inside the door of the locker room, McElroy leapt to the front. The intellectual exterior vanished with a few not-so-family-friendly phrases. Eyebrows raised throughout the locker room.

"We've got 30 minutes, and then we hang up the pads for four months!" McElroy said, among other things. "Let's make the most of every (expletive) second!"

Receiver Mike McCoy exited with, "That's that Texas boy talking."

Yes, the Texas boy made the most of his A-Day experience, leading the Crimson team to a 14-7 victory before an announced crowd of 84,050 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the second-most in the program history.

"He's a calm guy, and I think that's good thing to have in a quarterback," Johnson said of McElroy. "But also, a good thing to have is a guy that knows when it's time to turn it on, and he's got that leadership ability."

McElroy completed 16-of-30 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns in a winning effort. He played the entire game, shared the game's Most Valuable Player award along with receiver Marquis Maze and all but ended Alabama's 2009 quarterback competition.

Alabama coach Nick Saban praised McElroy in the locker room after the game and told reporters that, "We need to continue to develop a backup quarterback," without referencing the starter's job heading into the Sept. 5 opener against Virginia Tech.

"I think everybody knows, who watched the game today, that's been at practice every day, who our players have the most respect for, who has the best knowledge and experience, the guy that has shown with his consistency and performance that he's far and away our best quarterback right now," Saban said of McElroy. "But we don't have a depth chart for anybody yet. I think he knows that somebody's got to beat him out."

The Crimson team - coached by offensive coordinator Jim McElwain and featuring the first-string offense and second-string defense - scored on its second possession when McElroy hit Julio Jones in stride for a 52-yard touchdown against the first-string defense comprising the White team.

With 4:30 remaining in the second quarter, McElroy found McCoy for a 10-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 14-0 heading into intermission.

"To be totally honest, big crowds never really faze me," McElroy said. "I played in big crowds in high school, about 45,000 people, which is remarkable for 18-year-old athletes. ... The fan support out there was fantastic. The atmosphere was that of a game. It was exciting. It was fun to be a part of. I enjoyed the crowd, and I think it allowed us to really separate the guys that can handle the pressure from the guys that still have a long way to go mentally."

McElroy did toss a pair of interceptions, a nice play in coverage by linebacker Dont'a Hightower and a tipped ball that safety Robby Green snagged on the ground. On the first, McElroy earned cheers by racing in for a solo tackle on Hightower.

"He's a winner, man," McCoy said of McElroy. "We love him. Whatever it takes, he's going to do it. He's a vocal guy, but a lot of people don't get the chance to see it. This is really his first opportunity for everybody else to see how special he is besides me and other guys on the team. Today everybody got a taste of what's coming in the future."

Led by Maze's team-high 87 receiving yards and 47 rushing yards on two end-around plays, the White team halved the deficit when former St. Paul's running back Ivan Matchett scored on a 5-yard run with 14:11 to play.

But following that, the White team - which struggled with the second-team offensive line to run and allowed eight sacks -- managed only one first down in its final three possessions. Another former St. Paul's standout, Mark Barron of the Crimson team, intercepted quarterback Star Jackson with seven seconds left to end the game.

The Crimson team celebrated what will be a steak dinner this week, while the White squad gets beans-and-weenies. It was a bit of surprise result, considering the defense had been ahead of the offense for most of spring practice.

"The defense has been chattering all week about how they've been shutting us down in both scrimmages and how we haven't been running the ball well," said Brian Motley, starting right guard for the Crimson team. "We felt like we had something to prove to them and the fans."

"I wasn't crazy about the way we played on defense today, to be honest with you," Saban said. "The first defense can play better. They should have a higher expectation. I think there needs to be more discipline in guys doing what they're supposed to do. I think there's a few guys that think they are a little better than they are, and it changes their attitude about how they go about their work."

Barron led the Crimson team with 4.5 tackles, while linebackers Courtney Upshaw and Chavis Williams each had two sacks. Linebacker Rolando McClain posted six tackles and a sack to pace the White squad, which also got five tackles from Hightower.

Jackson and Thomas Darrah split time as the quarterbacks of the White team, with neither completing half his passes. Darrah was 8-of-22 for 113 yards. Jackson finished 4-of-13 for 52 yards and two interceptions.

The top tailback on either team was Jeramie Griffin, who gained 31 yards on 10 carries for the White team. The Crimson side received 27 yards on 10 carries from Terry Grant. Jones caught four passes for 73 yards, while McCoy added 53 yards on three catches for the Crimson team. Former UMS-Wright tight end Preston Dial totaled 58 yards on five receptions for the White team.

"We have issues. We have things to work on," Saban said. "They are challenges, and we embrace those challenges. We look forward to those. But I think we can have a good football team if we have leadership emerge, as well as the passion of the team."